Health and wellbeing

Health in the workplace is about more than preventing accidents. Employee health can influence productivity and staff morale; while time taken off work for treatment and recovery is a cost to our business. Most of our people are office-based. We have identified two main risks to the health and wellbeing of our workforce: stress and ergonomics-related injuries.

Our companies seek to create an environment where people feel able to discuss any issues, including stress, with their manager or human resources department. The risk of work-related stress is assessed through regular staff surveys and by checking issues raised via our Right to Speak helpline, Employee Assistance Programs and during exit interviews.

Initiatives to combat workplace stress and improve wellbeing vary by company but include:

Employee Assistance Programs – a source of confidential advice, support and counselling.

Flexible benefit programs, including subsidised childcare.

Flexible work arrangements enabling people to work part-time or from home.

We collect health and safety data through our financial reporting system. In 2009 there were 322,000 days lost due to sickness, including injuries and stress, equivalent to 3.3 days per employee.

PERSPECTIVE:

PERSPECTIVE:

Getting a head start in the approaching war for talent

Landor’s internal brand engagement team helps clients engage their employees and deliver against their brand promises.

Building a great employer brand requires the same principles as any great branding program: know your audience. Know what makes you different. Then build a brand promise and (employee) experience that reflects and delivers on your special difference. Your employees will return the favor.

Retention will be a major concern for many companies as we emerge from the recession. Yet it appears that many employers still view recruitment and retention as a buyer’s market. They figure most employees are holding on to their jobs for dear life.

But they may be in for a surprise. A recent survey by Salary.com found that 65% of employees said they were passively or actively looking for new jobs, while employers estimated that number at 37%.

Here are four big steps to take to future-proof your brand as an employer so you can both retain your best employees and also recruit the best new ones when the time comes.

Focus on the employee experience now Ensure your employee experience is compelling and ‘sticky’ enough to retain your people when the tide turns. Now is the time to do it, while you are not distracted with the frenzy of recruitment. The test of a good employer brand is how well you keep your recruitment promises. Does the employee experience live up to expectations? Take a page from consumer branding. Spend time mapping out the employee experience and what you can offer. Think through all the points at which the brand is delivered to your employees, and how you can deliver it better – from induction to daily working life to career development to exit interview.

Make your employees’ experience unique Offer something distinctive in terms of both tangible rewards and the feel-good factor. Identify those one or two things that will set you apart from the competition. The closer your employer brand aligns with your overall brand ethos, the better off you’ll be – pick up on what makes your brand special to the outside world and interpret that for employees. Know your employees, know what’s important to them, and then find your unique approach.

Take care of your people in the tough times Take care of those who stay as well as those who go. If you can prove your mettle as an employer who looks after its workforce in times of trouble, you will be rewarded with loyalty when the pendulum swings and people have the chance to leave.

Most important, start right now The employers’ market of today will become the employees’ market of tomorrow, so you’d better pay attention to your employer brand now. Building it up takes time, and even if you’re not working at it now, your competitors are.